Tropical Cyclone Nora hits northern Australia

Final warning issued, but flooding still likely across the Cape York Peninsula.

25 Mar 2018 10:46 GMT

The far north of Australia has been lashed by Tropical Cyclone Nora, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and some flooding.

The system reached the northern state of Queensland late on Saturday, where it impacted the western coast of Cape York, the northern tip of the state.

There were no reports of injuries so far, although utility company Ergon Energy said more than 230 homes had temporarily lost power.

The Bureau of Meteorology reported winds of up to 100kph, with 24-hour rainfall totals exceeding 110mm.

Having made landfall, the cyclone weakened quickly. A final warning has now been issued for the storm as the winds continue to rapidly die down.

Even though the winds are no longer a concern, further flooding is still likely, and the heavy rain extends far and wide. Torrential downpours have caused flooding in some low-lying parts of Cairns.

Nora is now travelling south down the coast, where it is expected to reach Kowanyama, in Queensland's Gulf Country. Some areas could see a further 100 to 200mm of rain over the next 24 hours.

Jonty Hall, Bureau of Meteorology weather forecaster, added "So it's going to be a day, day and a half, it's just going to be sitting in almost the same spot producing pretty heavy rainfall throughout that area ... so the total accumulation for the whole event for some places down there may be between 500 to 700mm."